Maluka has taken up the matter with deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and he will take the final call. The posts have to be filled by August 23. Both the seats are reserved for scheduled caste nominees in the district.

Rakhra was reportedly dejected at an inability to reach a decision as he had camped the entire day at the local panchayat bhawan.

He, along with Maluka, had also held detailed meetings with in-charges of all constituencies, to no avail.

Sources said that name of zila parishad member from Patiala Jaspal Singh Kalyan, had almost been finalised for chairman. However, some in-charges decided to oppose the move. Kalyan is considered to be a close associate of Rakhra.

Another name doing the rounds for chairman was Lal Singh Ranjitgarh, the zila Parishad member from Nabha.

For the vice-chairman's post, Harmail Singh Tohra from Patiala (rural) and Anupinder Kaur, wife of Tejinder pal Singh Sandhu, in-charge from Sanaur constituency, were in the fray but no final call was taken. Avtar Singh Ghalori and Tejinder Singh are now front runners for the post, sources claimed.

"We failed to decided on the matter. The matter has now been taken up with the deputy chief minister," the source added.

When contacted, Maluka said constituency in-charges had proposed two names each for both the posts, therefore, they decided to approach the SAD president to take the final decision.